Sixty years ago, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, known as Qomolangma in China and Chomolungma in Tibet. Their bavery and resilience set an example for many other adventurers in the following decades.

It was the final obstacle, 12 metres of technical climbing up a near-vertical rock face which pushed Sir Edmund Hillary to the limit. Once climbed, the way to the summit of Mount Everest lay open. Now, almost exactly 60 years after the New Zealander and his rope-mate Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, stood on the highest point in the planet, a new plan has been mooted to install a ladder on the famous "Hillary Step", as the crucial pitch at nearly 8,850 metres has been known since it was first ascended. The aim is to "ease congestion".

Yuichiro Miura, who took the standard southeast ridge route pioneered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay 60 years ago, reached the top of the 8,848 metre mountain at about 9.00am local time, accompanied by three other Japanese climbers, including his son, and six Nepali sherpas.

A climber from Bangladesh and one from South Korea have died on Mount Everest as hundreds flock to the world's highest peak during good weather, Nepalese tourism officials said yesterday. "Both men died while descending from the summit on Monday," an official with the tourism ministry said from Everest Base Camp.

Austrian-born Paul Niel and his team have set off on a nine-week long expedition to scale the famous mountain, which at 8,848 metres is the highest in the world. They will also make an attempt at Lhotse, the world's fourth-highest mountain.